Among clinically relevant genes, NBN and SMUG1 were identified as independent prognostic factors that predicted poor survival in colon cancer patients.
These colon carcinoma lesions selectively accumulated [<sup>18</sup>F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([<sup>18</sup>F]FDG) and [<sup>18</sup>F]fluoroacetate ([<sup>18</sup>F]FACE) at high levels, reflecting elevated carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism in these tumors.
When applied to the dynamic <sup>18</sup>F-FDG measurement of colon cancer, the proposed algorithm accurately identified densely vascularized regions from the rest of the tumor.
This suggests that the pretreatment SUV<sub>max</sub> in <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT is a useful tool to help predict survival outcome in patients with colon cancer and unresectable liver metastases and may significantly distinguish between patients with low and high levels of Beclin-1 expression (AUC = 0.809, 95% CI: 0.670-0.948, p = 0.001).